The column that says don’t assume somebody is not doing it right unless you’re walking in their shoes.

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Good evening!

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Walk a mile tomorrow morning and add five weeks to your life.

If it’s raining, subtract one.

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The “guest house’’ idea in Bridgetion was Hank Murad’s.

“And I’ll help Bob Thompson all I can,’’ said Murad, owner of the Ashley-McCormick Center and a bike riding enthusiast.

“There are bike clubs that do 100-mile rides called a ‘Century’ and Bridgeton could be a destination.

“We can hook up with these clubs, who are well-heeled,’’ said Murad, who has rock-hard calves and a bicycle in his office.

Thompson is willing to head the committee.

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“Jack,

“The Greenwich Baptist Church at 928 Ye Greate St. will be having an Easter Hymn Sing on Sunday, March 24, at 7 p.m.

“All are welcome.

“Light refreshments will be served following the Hymn Sing.

“Thanks.’’

— Dave Austin

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Canvas Bag update:

Denise Gray, left, and Allison Hider work on matting and framing open orders at The Canvas Bag Gallery and Frame Shoppe on Commerce Street in Bridgeton. The Canvas Bag will close its doors after more than 33 years as owners Bob and Marion Spence retire. (Staff Photo by Britney Lillya/South Jersey Times)

Bridgeton City Council passed a resolution last night (Bill Spence recused himself, Dennis Thompson was absent for the vote, remaining 3 council members voted in favor, none against) authorizing a shared services agreement with Cumberland Empowerment Zone to establish a downtown land bank program related to 46-50 E. Commerce St., aka Gallery 50 and the Canvas Bag.

Cumberland Empowerment Zone has established an agreement of sale with the seller to acquire the property for $160,000 with the goal of working in partnership with the city to market and sell the property to a complementary business.

The city will split "interim carrying costs" including property taxes, insurance, utilities and marketing costs on a 50/50 basis with the Cumberland Empowerment Zone.

Cumberland Empowerment Zone is funding this through second generation Empowerment Zone funds. Cumberland County Empowerment Zone Executive Director Jeannine MacDonald gave a presentation during work session explaining the program, available by phone at (856) 459-1700.

Basically she explained that the Cumberland Empowerment Zone was formed to administer empowerment zone funds received for Bridgeton, Millville, Vineland and Port Norris as round II empowerment zones.

The original plan was for the Cumberland Empowerment Zone to receive $10 million per year for 10 years, which never came to fruition, but Cumberland Empowerment Zone has received $26.5 mil since its formation in 1999.

Bridgeton now has $3.2 million in second generation funds, which have been collected as first-generation loans have been repaid.

The Canvas Bag/Gallery 50 property will be owned by "Cumberland Redevelopment," a nonprofit formed by the Cumberland Empowerment Zone for the purpose of this Bridgeton land banking project.

Note: The seller and Cumberland Empowerment Zone have signed an agreement of sale with a number of protections (ex.: if structural problems requiring over $2,500 of repairs are discovered the buyer can back out of the deal, etc.) but have not closed on the deal yet.

Mayor Kelly said he and Kevin Rabago had spoken with an interested tenant who wants to do a walk-through ASAP.

Kelly and council agreed that they want to start land banking to gain more control over the downtown area.

"Let us control some of these properties to market to organizations and businesses with benefits to our town, not prospectors who want to sit on these properties until the market turns," Kelly said.

He noted he can't fault investors for trying to stay afloat by participating in that kind of practice but noted, "We can't prosper with five or six of the same stores on each block."

The new second-hand store on Laurel was criticized as an example of something that's not going to help the downtown flourish.